“Let’s take the road before and sing a chorus or two.”

“Ready?” Danny asked from next to you in the driver’s seat.

You nodded as you clipped your belt into place and he pulled out of the driveway, setting off for the nearly four and half hour drive from London back to Bolton. It was early morning, around 7am, and you were both heading back to where you had met as kids for Christmas celebrations with your families before returning home to London for a New Year’s party with your friends.

You spent the first hour or so of the journey napping in the passenger seat, a late night of packing last minute items and wrapping forgotten presents having tired you out. When you woke up the journey was half way over. At this rate you’d be at your parents’ house in time for lunch and preferably another nap.

After stopping at a rest stop for a comfort break and a mandatory “on the road” pasty, you were back on the road again. It was fairly quiet save for the window wipers that Danny had had to turn on to brush away a light covering of snow that was falling down. It was nice to see a bit of the white stuff for a change; British winters were too inconsistent and unpredictable. The squeaking from the wipers was being to irritate you and you needed a distraction before it put you in a bad mood.

You dug around in your bag, pulling out you iPod; “You know what this journey needs?”

Danny didn’t answer, concentrating on the road ahead. You plugged the device into the aux cord and searched for a playlist. You watched Danny’s face for a reaction as you pressed “play”.

His face lit up as soon as he heard the familiar introduction to “Sleigh Ride”.

“Wahey!”

You giggled; you loved seeing him so happy.

For the rest of the journey you sang along to Christmas songs at the top of your lungs with Danny joining in as enthusiastically as he could without crashing the car. The drive was definitely starting to look up.

You were almost ready to fall asleep when the car pulled up outside of your home. You thanked the driver, a kindly older man who often had the pleasure of transporting you from place to place as you toured the country after every new book release, and vacated the vehicle eager to get inside away from the sudden drop in temperature and back into the warmth. Your breath was visible in the chilly air, billowing out like smoke with every outward breath and you hurried to find your keys. Although it was barely 4pm it was dark outside and even though your home was pretty secluded, you had never felt safer. The warm glow of your outdoor Christmas decorations that Tom had put up and set on a timer before he had left only made your home feel even more inviting. You could practically hear your bath bombs and pyjamas calling out to you making you all the more keen to get inside. Once in the warmth and locked in you kicked off your shoes, dropping everything that you had been carrying – your bag, a couple of books, some documents and your phone – onto the sideboard and ran up the stairs, practically stripping off as you made a beeline for the bathroom. Tom wasn’t available to chat for a couple of hours at least and you were going to make the most of having no responsibilities for the time being.

Making your way into the living room, clad in your favourite onesie and fuzzy socks with your phone in hand, you took a moment to turn on the Christmas lights. As the room lit up you stopped in your tracks. There were pictures of you and Tom everywhere and whilst it was always a comfort to see his adoringly compassionate face, it only made you feel even lonelier knowing you were in for more – this time unplanned – time apart. The photo that pulled at your heartstrings the most was the one on the coffee table taken from the exact same spot on the couch that you would be occupying alone until he was able to get back to you. You gazed at the picture. It had been taken back when you were still getting to know each other several years ago. You had both just escaped the frostiness of the snow outside, both sets of cheeks glowing a rosy red, and had settled down to snuggle up in front of the fireplace with your group of friends. Your best friend, , had sneakily decided to capture the moment, something you had been unaware of until you had her phone thrust into your face a few minutes later when she decided to show it around the group. You had both been too caught up in the romance of the season to notice the tittering amongst your friends. As you sat down, mug in hand, you reached for your phone to FaceTime him. You didn’t get a chance to, though, as he had apparently had the same idea from wherever his schedule had taken him. You smiled as you accepted this call. This would have to do for now.

“Ready to go?”

You nodded as you slipped on your shoes, “Where are we going?”

His eyes twinkled as he put his finger to his lips, “Can’t say; it’s a surprise.” His head disappeared and the reappeared as he checked something outside.

You tried to follow him out of the door but he stopped you before you even got near it:

“You need to close your eyes.”

You gave him a pained look. You hated surprises at the best of times.

“Do I have to?”

He nodded his head, “Close your eyes.”

You did as instructed and let him guide you outside, keeping them closed as he locked the door behind you. He stood behind you, covering your eyes with his hands and walked you forward a few steps. The smell was the first thing that hit you.

“Harry what the -” You were cut off by him removing his hands and yelling “surprise!”

Your eyes took a little while to adjust to the bright light. The man had only gone and hired a horse and cart.

“I know it’s not much of a sleigh ride but is it a good compromise?” he asked, referring to a childhood dream of yours. You looked at him questioningly. He seemed to know what you were talking about.

“Don’t worry; this horse only works for an hour or so a day and he’s really well-treated – I’ve seen so myself.”

You nodded and let him help you get into the carriage. There were blankets scattered on the seats across from them, ready to keep them warm and even a small picnic basket. He had thought of everything.

He settled into the seat beside you and you laid your head on his shoulder as he covered you over with a blanket; “Merry Christmas, Love.”

Four

“Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling “Yoohoo!”

A loud thud on the window next to you distracted you from the lovely conversation you were having with ’s wife, , and ’s wife, , causing all three of you to jump. You looked at the window to see a smattering of snow pressed up against it, sliding down in chunks as it broke apart. Someone had thrown a snowball at it in order to frighten you. That someone was Dougie. You only knew this because he was standing on the other side of the pane of glass laughing his head off. By now you, and were laughing too, the shock having worn off. You stood up to assess the damage to the window – not that there were any bar white crystals slowly melting – and shook your head at him. He wiggled his right index finger at you in a hooking motion, urging you to come outside. His hands were pink, the result of playing in the snow with no gloves on and his face was red from running around with the other men whilst their kids napped upstairs.

You folded your arms and shook your head, mouthing “no”. It was far too cold for your liking.

“Come on,” he mouthed back.

You shook your head again.

He pouted which resulted in you rolling your eyes.

“Fine.”

You and the girls made your way to the front door, pulling on your coats and winter boots. Despite having wrapped up warm, as soon as you opened the front door the ice-cold air hit you sharply, causing your eyes to water and your fingertips to turn blue. You remained on the doorstep as and walked towards your other friends.

Dougie tried to coerce you into stepping out further but you refused. Your teeth were chatting as snow fell.

“I’m fine here.” You turned to take a step backwards, careful to not to fall over the toys placed at the door.

When you turned your head back around, something wet on your nose made you come to a standstill. Dougie had stuck out his tongue and placed it to the tip of your nose. It was only to serve as a distraction, though, as you felt something extremely cold go down the back of your jacket and into your shirt. The little twerp had put a huge chunk of ice down your back.

As he ran away to hide behind , you screamed after him: “Oh my God! I am so going to get you back for that!”

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